Aviar flu is at a dangerous point in the United States: almost 167 million birds have been affected by the H5N1 strain since 2022, and 70 people have been infected. Now, birds are flying for the spring migration season.
A snow goose near Montreal, a large owl with horns in southwest Ontario, a Canada goose in Langley, BC: these are just some of the wild birds that recently gave positive for H5N1 in Canada. But scientists are preparing for more and are increasing their efforts to monitor and stop the virus this season.
This winter has seen more H5N1 outbreaks than usual, said Dr. Manon Racicot, a veterinary epidemiologist of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Saint-Hyacinthhe, which.
“Now that birds return to the north for migration, we really don’t know what comes to us.
ADDING TO SCIENTISTS ‘CONCERN: ANOTHER STRAIN OF BIRD FLU, H7N9, HAS BEEN REPORTED IN A POULTRY FARM IN MISSISSIPPI, US – A First SInce 2017. WHILE IT’S NOT THE DOMINANT TYPE OF BIRD FLUE CURRENTLY MAKING THE ROUNDS IN THE US H5N1, Killing Nearly 40 Per Cent of Humans Infected since it was detected in 2013. The infected Birds Have Been Killed, and the premises Quarantined, Said State authorities.
A distance mutation
H5N1 has also crossed species and has adapted to mammalian guests. Animals such as seals, cats and dogs have died after mixing with wild birds or eating raw pets.
Dairy cows in the United States have become made in mass, with 989 herds affected in 17 states, according to disease control and prevention centers.
Aviar flu does not seem to be easily transmissible among people, for now. But the H5N1 tension that circulates in cows in the US A study Recently published in the magazine reviewed by Pares Science.
And when it infects humans, the virus can be deadly. In January, a senior in Louisiana became the first human death related to H5N1 in the United States
The only known case of H5N1 of Canada was confirmed two months before, in November: a teenager in British Columbia who was hospitalized for two months. We still don’t know how it was infected.
In both cases, the genetic analysis suggested the The virus had mutated become more effective to attach to the cells in the upper respiratory tract.
All this has scientists and doctors in maximum alert.
“Frankly, a single case of Aviar influenza is very worrying because we do not want that virus to adapt to humans,” said Dr. Danuta Skowronski, epidemiologist of the BC center for disease control (BCCDC).
“We all have the responsibility to close that as quickly as possible to contain it. That is a global effort. We are communicating worldwide with the United States, with the United Kingdom, with any place where we can make sure to get the best possible knowledge.”
Retire from who, fighting to hire employees again
With how much the disease is changing in the United States at this time, it is essential that US authorities continue to communicate with other countries and the World Health Organization (WHO), says Ian Brown, an outstanding expert in influenza Aviaza at the Pirbright Institute in the United Kingdom.
But the Trump administration is taking out the United States from WHO. It is also reducing funds and jobs in key agencies such as national health institutes.
“We know it is a sensitive situation. We know some of our colleagues, they can be at risk of not having a job,” Brown said.
They are the first days, he says, but fears that there is a reduction in information between American scientists and international counterparts.
“The first signs are that the interaction we have been used to having, successfully for many years, can now be compromised.”
There have already been false steps.
The Department of Agriculture has fought to hire Employees who work in the response of the aviar flu, after shooting them by mistake during their rapid purge of the Federal Labor Force, due to the recommendations of the Efficient Department of the Government of Elon Musk. Have had problems recovering them Politic reported.
The WHO has already seen an impact on cuts for the monitoring of the Aviar flu, the general general director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
Is the United States with Canada on Aviar flu speaking?
Fortunately, however, the United States is returning Canada’s calls to human cases of avian flu, especially among those who work with poultry or infected dairy cattle, says Dr. Theresa Tam, Director of Public Health of Canada.
“I think that public health at all levels is trying to be very attentive to cases in these different populations and we are sharing information continuously,” Tam said.
Canada is based on the US to stop the virus effectively. On the health side of animals, for example, US and Canadian officials work together to monitor bird fly tracks and closely monitor wild and domestic birds, sharing mutations of concern, as well as approximate locations of infected birds.
Also at the provincial level, teams in British Columbia maintain close contact with homologists in states such as Washington, Oregon and Alaska, said Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer of BC.
“I think one of the things that help us are the relationships we have, personal relationships.”
Canada also closely watches our dairy cows: the CFIA tests raw milk samples that reach the processing plants. Until now, all samples have become negative, as of February 28.
Learning from Covid-19
But both Tam and Henry emphasize: it is important to strengthen Canada’s monitoring and be prepared, especially in case the virus changes and becomes more transmissible among humans, which could cause a pandemic.
These efforts include “increasing monitoring and surveillance, laboratory tests, ensuring that any human case is investigated,” Tam said.
BCCDC scientists are among many in Canada who are already being part of that preparatory work.
“Through pandemic, we have learned a lot about the tools that public health can use to make their decisions,” said Linda Hoang, medical director of her public health laboratory.
The BCCDC is monitoring mutations that could make H5N1 more adapted to humans, developing antibody tests to monitor human exposure and investigate how avian flu is transmitted.
All information could be critical for decision makers if the virus becomes more transmissible.
Henry says he has confidence, even if there are temporary episodes of silence of American counterparts, that Canadian surveillance is strong enough to closely monitor the avian flu.
